British Medical Journal
12 April 2014 (Vol 348, Issue 7953)
http://www.bmj.com/content/348/7953
Editor’s Choice
The missing data that cost $20bn
Kamran Abbasi, international editor
BMJ 2014; 348 doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.g2695 (Published 10 April 2014)
BMJ 2014;348:g2695
Excerpt
Marketing is what you do when your product is no good, said Edward Land, scientist and inventor of the Polaroid instant camera. The same notion filled Tom Jefferson’s head when he began to reappraise his initial conclusions about neuraminidase inhibitors and the risk of influenza complications and hospital admissions (doi:10.1136/bmj.g2227). Keiji Hayashi, a Japanese researcher, alerted him to the existence of unpublished trials, trials that were not included in his Cochrane review of 2006. From trusting the literature, researchers, and companies, Jefferson moved to a position of deep scepticism. Many trials were unpublished, data weren’t shared, and decisions on purchasing, stockpiling, and using the drugs were based on a slim and skewed representation of the total evidence base.
This week is the culmination of a five year campaign led by Jefferson’s Cochrane research team, supported by The BMJ, to ensure the release of the full clinical trial data on neuraminidase inhibitors (doi:10.1136/bmj.g2630). The studies, analyses, and editorials in this issue strike like a hammer blow
Editorials
The Tamiflu trials
BMJ 2014;348:g2630 (Published 10 April 2014)
:: Tamiflu open data campaign